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Early life and education

The eldest of four siblings, Perry was born in Gainesville, Florida in the United States to parents of Portuguese and Venezuelan extraction. She spent several years of her childhood in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, where her father worked as a Christian missionary. Perry and her family remained in Latvia after it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in May 1990. From an early age, Perry aspired to become a ballet dancer like her mother. She attended the Riga Choreography School - the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera - and began dancing with the Latvian National Ballet at the age of 14.

At the age of 17, Perry returned to the United States. She initially lived in New York City, where she danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. Perry later enrolled in Florida State University (FSU), majoring in dance and acting. While attending FSU, Perry began attending Florida State Seminoles football games with Jenn Sterger, Fabiola Romero, and several other students, cheering from the bleachers while dressed as "cowgirls". The students - known as the "Florida State Cowgirls" - entered the public consciousness after being acknowledged by commentator Brent Musburger during a game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes that aired on ABC in September 2005. Perry parlayed the exposure into a modelling career, appearing in photoshoots in publications such as the RIDGID Tool Calendar and working as a spokesmodel for the energy drinks Matrix and Red Bull.

Upon graduating from FSU, Perry relocated to Los Angeles, California with the aim of working in show business.

Music and acting career

In 2009, Perry joined "No Means Yes", a girl group signed to Ne-Yo's record label comprising Perry (billed as "C.J."), Kat, Shea and Tanu. The group released one single - titled "Would You Like That" - and recorded two others (titled "7 Years Bad Luck" and "Burn Rubber") before disbanding in 2010. Perry stated on joining "No Means Yes", "A girlfriend of mine in college referred me to the man that was putting the group together. I honestly was so scared to sing and I didn't even know a song to sing at the audition so I sang "Jesus Loves Me." I remember them saying we can work with her tone because she has the right look and she is a model that break dances. I am so thankful to this day for that experience because I do not think I would have ever gotten the role in Pitch Perfect if I hadn't overcome my fear to open my mouth and sing". Perry went on to work as a backup dancer for performers such as Keri Hilson, Nelly, Pink and Usher. In 2013, Perry starred alongside Kelley Jakle in the music video for Jakle's cover of the Paramore song "Ain't it Fun".

Perry trained as an actress at The Groundlings School and under the acting coaches Lesly Kahn and Larry Moss. She went on to appear in acting roles such as an episode of the television program The Game in 2011, the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect in 2012 and an episode of the television program Banshee in 2013. She landed the lead role in I.C.I.R.U.S. as Brit in 2011.

World Wrestling Entertainment /WWE

Managing Alexander Rusev (2013–present)

In June 2013, Perry revealed that she had been signed to WWE and was sent to their developmental branch WWE NXT. Perry debuted in NXT on the October 23, 2013 episode of NXT, under the ring name "Lana", scouting Alexander Rusev during his match against C.J. Parker. On the November 6 episode of NXT, Lana became Rusev's "social ambassador". In December 2013, the duo of Rusev and Lana were compared to Ivan and Ludmilla Drago, the antagonists of the 1985 film Rocky IV. Rusev and Lana later appeared at NXT Arrival, where Rusev attacked Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze.

While Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 26, 2014, Lana made her main roster debut on the January 31 episode of SmackDown, where she and Rusev in the following weeks appeared in a series of self-promotional videos and speeches. Rusev wrestled his first match on the main roster on the April 7 episode of Raw, squashing Zack Ryder.